As a niche house, why are Serge Luten fragrances easier to find cheaper?

It's a pretty well known & esteemed house.. Im pretty sure their fragrances are in decent demand.. I've seen many of his scents sold directly by amazon & fragrancenet for as low has 58 dollars USD. No where near what you would typically pay for a niche fragrance.

Perhaps because distribution channels aren't as rigidly enforced or controlled as with other niche brands. Just a guess.

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Serge Lutens is not niche (not to open again the debate on the term, which by the way to me it's clear), it's owned by Shiseido and it's undoubtedly much more popular than what people usually refer to as "niche" brands - e.g.: I live in a suburban area in Milan, quite "normal" and possibly the least trendy area of all town, and on 4 perfume shops here, 2 have some 5-6 Lutens scents too - together with mainstream brands. While proper "niche" scents are to be found in the 4-5 properly said "selected niche perfume shops" here, all located downtown. That was just to say that Lutens is a popular brand with a really broad distribution, which may lead to such differencies in prices, that's quite normal with popular brands. But however, being niche is not a matter of price - I mean, there's not a "niche police" checking your RRP I guess it's their choice.

Sorry to bump in a male discussion just wanted to check, you mention it's owned by Shiseido, is it true? Cos I thought it used to be owned by shiseido but then lutens went on his own? As I remeber even his logo changed from what was previously a shiseido one and the look of the outer "sticker" (sorry, can't think of a better term, eng.is not my native tongue).

One of my "local" webshops here in Croatia, that ships fragrances to Cro, Slo and IT stocks it, and I was very sceptic at first because thay are way cheaper than anywhere else (not counting ebay deals, but "regular" fragrance webshops). I normally pay around 100 euro for a 50 ml un bois vanille and this shop had it for around 50...so I was very sceptic but I gave it a go, I had to check what was up with that and everything came perfectly, sealed in a box, the juice is real and great. If I hadn't owned a bottle before maybe I would still be sceptic but it matches in every single way so it's a real deal...Still don't know what the deal is that it is so much cheaper than anywhere else.

Thanks for the info Ipp, I knew that because it's still written in the bottom "sticker" but I thought that was just sort of an address cos his main, so to say official boutique is situated in Palais Royal Shiseido.

But still, it is true that the logo had changed from shiseido one to the current SL one.

I know, but could it be that lutens' boutique remained there while he still did "separate" from Shiseido? Don't know, but I did read about it some time a go and the story was that he went on his own...

Either way, it doesn't matter anyway to me, I just wanted to check only for the "informations sake", I think he's great, makes some of my favourite frags so even better if they're more affordable, and I would love him even if he was under Bath and Body Works

Wider appeal thus remaining profitable due to turnover not just price, more permissible pricing policies- a few possible "wild guesses" of mine on the subject, sadly not backed by verifiable, scientific and/or documented data (yet, though I would like to know far more about this house).

I know, but could it be that lutens' boutique remained there while he still did "separate" from Shiseido? Don't know, but I did read about it some time a go and the story was that he went on his own...

Either way, it doesn't matter anyway to me, I just wanted to check only for the "informations sake", I think he's great, makes some of my favourite frags so even better if they're more affordable, and I would love him even if he was under Bath and Body Works

Féminité du Bois was launched in 1992 for Shiseido, the Japanese beauty company for which Serge Lutens created many striking ad campaigns, and which backed him in the launch, the same year, of his super-chic Salons du Palais Royal. It was in its original incarnation that I first encountered Féminité du Bois, and what first caught my eye was the design of the bottle – a lovely teardrop-shaped glass container, designed by Lutens himself. Sadly that style of bottle disappeared in 2009, when Lutens left Shiseido and set up in his own name; the perfume went with him, repackaged in his signature bottles – a tall, slim, rather flat rectangular design, stylish in its own right but not as poetic as Shiseido’s original.

One of my "local" webshops here in Croatia, that ships fragrances to Cro, Slo and IT stocks it, and I was very sceptic at first because thay are way cheaper than anywhere else (not counting ebay deals, but "regular" fragrance webshops). I normally pay around 100 euro for a 50 ml un bois vanille and this shop had it for around 50...so I was very sceptic but I gave it a go, I had to check what was up with that and everything came perfectly, sealed in a box, the juice is real and great. If I hadn't owned a bottle before maybe I would still be sceptic but it matches in every single way so it's a real deal...Still don't know what the deal is that it is so much cheaper than anywhere else.

Its similiar here. My favourite "local" online shop sells Lutens for 35-55 Euros. So far I bought just Fleurs D Oranger for girlfriend and it seems to be real... Now they added Amouages for 120 euros /100ml bottles. Gotta love this prices

Féminité du Bois was launched in 1992 for Shiseido, the Japanese beauty company for which Serge Lutens created many striking ad campaigns, and which backed him in the launch, the same year, of his super-chic Salons du Palais Royal. It was in its original incarnation that I first encountered Féminité du Bois, and what first caught my eye was the design of the bottle  a lovely teardrop-shaped glass container, designed by Lutens himself. Sadly that style of bottle disappeared in 2009, when Lutens left Shiseido and set up in his own name; the perfume went with him, repackaged in his signature bottles  a tall, slim, rather flat rectangular design, stylish in its own right but not as poetic as Shiseidos original.

Its similiar here. My favourite "local" online shop sells Lutens for 35-55 Euros. So far I bought just Fleurs D Oranger for girlfriend and it seems to be real... Now they added Amouages for 120 euros /100ml bottles. Gotta love this prices

Féminité du Bois was launched in 1992 for Shiseido, the Japanese beauty company for which Serge Lutens created many striking ad campaigns, and which backed him in the launch, the same year, of his super-chic Salons du Palais Royal. It was in its original incarnation that I first encountered Féminité du Bois, and what first caught my eye was the design of the bottle  a lovely teardrop-shaped glass container, designed by Lutens himself. Sadly that style of bottle disappeared in 2009, when Lutens left Shiseido and set up in his own name; the perfume went with him, repackaged in his signature bottles  a tall, slim, rather flat rectangular design, stylish in its own right but not as poetic as Shiseidos original.

As I understand it, M.Lutens left the direct employment of Shiseido but the Lutens company operates under the parent company of Shiseido.

One of my "local" webshops here in Croatia, that ships fragrances to Cro, Slo and IT stocks it, and I was very sceptic at first because thay are way cheaper than anywhere else (not counting ebay deals, but "regular" fragrance webshops). I normally pay around 100 euro for a 50 ml un bois vanille and this shop had it for around 50...so I was very sceptic but I gave it a go, I had to check what was up with that and everything came perfectly, sealed in a box, the juice is real and great. If I hadn't owned a bottle before maybe I would still be sceptic but it matches in every single way so it's a real deal...Still don't know what the deal is that it is so much cheaper than anywhere else.

Hi Vernona,

Really??? Which webshop is this and would they deliver a bit further down the road to Montenegro??? I have been looking for Un Bois Vanille but am unwilling to pay the 100 euros price tag I see online everywhere.

Serge Lutens is sold in Sephora and Marionnaud in France, not exactly niche in terms of distribution.

And that's a very wide distribution in France.

Remember that while it is perfectly acceptable to criticize the content of a post - criticizing the poster is not.
Mean spirited, nasty, snide, sarcastic, hateful, and rude individuals on Basenotes don't warrant or deserve my or other Basenoters' acknowledgement or respect.